A three-part study was conducted to determine the effectivenessPaul, J.C. of retrofit aerodynamic drag reducing devices on the fuel consumption and economics of open-top, bulk commodity, gondola and hopper rail cars in unit train service. Specific applications included trains transporting coal from mines to power plants. During the first part of the study wind tunnel testing and computational fluid dynamics were combined with an extensive literature search to rank the drag reducing effectiveness of a variety of devices including covers, internal baffles, end treatments, gap fillers, car side geometry, and underbody modifications. During the second portion of the study, three approaches were utilized to determine fuel savings associated with each aerodynamic retrofit device. These included two classical methods and a newly-developed train energy model. Results were validated using fuel consumption data provided by a U.S. Class I railroad. During the third portion of the study, an economic analysis of the candidate devices was completed which included the following parameters: weights of the retrofit devices, manufacturing and installation costs, drag reduction effectiveness, and projected return on investment. The study predicted round trip fuel savings, due to the addition of aerodynamic modifications to open-top rail cars in unit-train service, ranging from 2.7 to 19.9 % and return on investment durations as short as 2 years, depending upon the type of device, route, and car utilization. It was shown that economic viability of car modifications depends only partly on aerodynamic performance. Some of the modifications exhibiting high levels of drag reduction were eliminated from additional consideration due to high associated costs and negative impact on payload capacity.
Aerodynamic Drag Reduction of Open-Top Gondola and Hopper Cars in Unit Train Operation and Impact on Train Fuel Consumption and Economics
Lect.Notes in Applied (formerly:Lect.Notes Appl.Mechan.)
International Conference on Engineering Conferences International ; 2010 ; Potsdam, Germany September 12, 2010 - September 17, 2010
2015-08-20
23 pages
Aufsatz/Kapitel (Buch)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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